Three point seat belt systems are well known in the art. They normally comprise a releasable buckle and connecting tongue adjustably attached to a continuous webbing. One end of the webbing is anchored to the vehicle's frame or seat adjacent to the floor, and the other end of the webbing is connected to a retractor through a web guide attached to the vehicle's side pillar proximate the shoulder height of a seated occupant. The portion of the webbing between the connecting tongue and the vehicle frame is normally referred to as the lap portion of the webbing and the portion of the continuous webbing between the connecting tongue and the web guide is referred to as the shoulder portion. 
A conventional D-ring also referred to in the art as a web guide or a turning loop includes a metal support plate with a circular mounting opening and a slit through which the shoulder belt is slidingly received. A threaded bolt serves as the mounting member, which is secured to a threaded nut, which functions as a cooperating mounting member. The threaded nut can be part of a vertically adjustable height adjusting mechanism, or alternatively, the nut can be welded to a support pillar (B, C, or D) or to a part of a seat frame. 
The seatbelt webbing is wound around the spool of the seatbelt retractor. The seatbelt webbing has a biasing force in the retraction direction, and this biasing force needs to be overcome to protract the seatbelt webbing from the seatbelt retractor. The biasing force on the seatbelt webbing is great  enough to coil the continuous seatbelt webbing around the spool when the connecting tongue is disengaged from the releasable buckle, but the biasing force does not prevent a vehicle occupant from shifting position or leaning forward during seatbelt use. However, at the onset of a vehicle crash, the retractor locks and prevents further belt payout to restrain the occupant during the crash. The vehicle occupant is traveling at the same speed as the vehicle and during the crash both the vehicle and the vehicle occupant experience deceleration forces. In order to minimize vehicle occupant injury during a crash, the goal is to minimize the deceleration forces applied to the vehicle occupant. Thus, by lowering the level of vehicle occupant deceleration during a crash, the risk of injury is lowered. 
A load limiting device is well known in the art for absorbing the kinetic energy of the vehicle occupant to control the deceleration of the vehicle occupant during a crash. The load limiting device is designed to absorb the kinetic energy of the occupant in a controlled manner and thereby minimize the deceleration forces in a predetermined manner as the occupant loads the belt during the collision. Such force dissipation allows controlled deceleration of the occupant during the collision. 
The load limiter or energy absorbing mechanism is commonly associated with the retractor portion of the three point seat belt system. For example, a torsion bar installed in the center bore of the spool is well known in the art, which absorbs energy by twisting during a crash. However, there is a desire to identify alternative locations within the three point seatbelt system for a load limiter that is not associated with the retractor.  